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MELBOURNE (Reuters) – The Australian Olympic Committee(AOC) has called on cyclist Stuart O’Grady to step down from its Athletes’ Commission after he admitted using performance-enhancing drugs at the 1998 Tour de France.

O’Grady, who announced his retirement this week, told a newspaper on Wednesday that he had used the banned blood-booster erythropoietin (EPO) before the notorious 1998 Tour, where he became only the second Australian to wear the yellow jersey.

AOC secretary-general Craig Phillips contacted O’Grady by e-mail asking for his immediate resignation from the 10-member advisory body, the AOC said on Thursday.

“Members of our London Olympic team, who elected Stuart to theAthletes’ Commission, are entitled to be angry knowing they had supported an athlete who had cheated,” AOC president John Coates said in a statement.

“Athletes’ Commission members are chosen for their qualities of integrity and leadership and by his admission Stuart does not deserve to be a member of that group.”

A report by a French Senate inquiry released on Wednesday found the top three finishers at the 1998 tour – Italian Marco Pantani, Germany’s Jan Ullrich and American Bobby Julich – were among 18 riders who had tested positive for EPO.

The 1998 race was overshadowed by the scandal involving the Festina team, who were kicked off the race after a medical team member was arrested at the French border and customs officers seized banned substances.

O’Grady was listed by the French Senate report among 12 riders whose tests were said to be “suspicious” but he confirmed using EPO to the Adelaide Advertiser, insisting he had acted alone in sourcing it.

O’Grady announced his retirement after helping his GreenEdge team to a team time trial victory in this year’s Tour, saying he wanted to go out on a high despite being expected to race on until 2014.

The Australian team said it supported O’Grady “as a person and an advocate for a clean sport”.

“Like the majority of the riders in his generation, he was also exposed to the issues and wrongdoings of the sport and made some wrong choices in that environment,” the team said in a statement on its website (www.greenedgecycling.com).

“We would like to underline that in all of our interactions with Stuart, he has always been extremely clear about the right path for the sport and we believe that certain mistakes in the past shouldn’t be allowed to tarnish his entire career and his integrity as a person.”

Cycling Australia also declined to condemn O’Grady, blaming the era and the European “environment”.

“The late 1990’s was clearly a dark period in cycling’s international history,” the governing body said in a statement.

“(Australian) Athletes transitioning from the strict anti-doping regimes enforced under the domestic … programs were faced with a very different environment when they landed in Europe.”

Coates, though, said the “everybody else was doing it” line was no defense for using banned substances.

“This was a shameful period for the sport of cycling which has been well documented, that is no excuse for the decision taken by Stuart O’Grady,” he added.

MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo has withdrawn from Sunday’s German grand prix and needs another operation on his left shoulder after he crashed in practice at the Sachsenring on Friday.

The Spanish Yamaha rider, who is second in this year’s standings behind compatriot Dani Pedrosa of Honda after seven of 18 races, was running quickest in the afternoon session but lost control at turn 10 and landed heavily on his left shoulder.

“The Mallorcan was taken to the Clinica Mobile, where examinations indicated that the eight screws in his shoulder were in tact but that the titanium plate itself had been bent by the impact,” organisers said on the MotoGP website (www.motogp.com).

The 26-year-old had the screws and plate inserted two weeks ago after sustaining a broken collarbone in practice for the Assen grand prix and despite the injury flew back to Netherlands after surgeryin Barcelona and finished fifth.

After the setback in Germany, he now faces a race to be fit in time for the U.S. grand prix at Laguna Seca next weekend.

“I have decided to go home and recover after today’s crash at Sachsenring,” Lorenzo said on the Yamaha Factory Racing website (www.yamahamotogp.com).

“I prefer to focus on surgery to fix the plate that was unfortunately bent during the crash. I will try to recover and be back as soon as possible.”

Sebastian Vettel does not matter who will be the new tandem at Red Bull Racing next year. Even so, three times Formula 1 champion is claimed to have good relationships with both candidates, ie, Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo.
The German rider said he would accept whatever his decision in choosing a replacement for Mark Webber who moved to Le Mans next year’s Championship.
“I do not care. I have a good relationship with both. Maybe I know Kimi is better than Daniel, but I think he did a good job for a young driver test with RB9 car, “Vettel said.
Vettel also explained that Red Bull Racing is very interested in signing a contract with Lotus Raikkonen finished later this year. He also admitted to not be afraid of having to bertandem with the 2007 world champion.
“If you want to win the world, then it is not an effect, because you have to beat anyone. No matter whether you are a strong team mate or not. At this stage, it is very difficult to judge who is the best. Clearly this is a team decision, I can only give an opinion, “he concluded.

Washington – United States be a friendly place for Honda is always a winner in the last six races there. In the ninth series of U.S. accomplishments rider is still awaited.

After last week’s action in Germany, the MotoGP riders are going to race at Laguna Seca circuit racing. Sunday (07/21/2013) This weekend competition Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa, Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez will come back to continue.

The following data and facts the U.S. MotoGP, as quoted from the site MotoGP.com:

– Six final MotoGP race held in the United States (including Laguna Seca, Indianapolis and Austin) is always won by the Honda rider. The last time there was non-Honda rider stood on the podium top is Jorge Lorenzo at Laguna Seca in 2010.

– It has been very long since the U.S. rider to win the MotoGP. The last time the United States there are riders the highest podium is through Ben Spies in MotoGP Netherlands in 2011.

– This weekend will be the 23 MotoGP races in the United States. Grand prix motor racing event was held first in 1964 and 1965. Laguna Seca has become host rumlah total as much as 14 times, five times in Indianapolis, twice at Daytona and one in Austin.

– Victory Marc Marquez in MotoGP Germany last week was a victory achieved by the 28 Honda rider throughout his career. With this amount is less Marquez one more victory to be able to match the record belongs to Loris Capirossi.

– Marc Marquez fourth consecutive season victory in Germany. Before doing so in the MotoGP class, he was also a champion in there while still competing in the Moto2 class (2011 and 2012), and while still in the 125 cc class (2010).

– In the last four years Jorge Lorenzo took pole position always. But in the span of just once so he champions.

– If you can reach the pole at the end of this week, it would equal the record of Lorenzo as rider Casey Stoner, who won the most consecutive pole in the circuit. Before retiring, Stoner recorded five times MotoGP pole position in Australia.

– Following an accident suffered by Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo in Germany, now living there are two riders who consistently score points since the first series. They are Andrea Dovizioso and Aleix Espargaro.

– The only Honda rider to start from pole position is Nicky Hayden. He did it in 2005.

Majority shareholder of the Formula One Group, CVC, choose to “watch and wait” bribery-related cases being attacked President and CEO of F1, Bernie Ecclestone.

Previously, German prosecutors indict Ecclestone bribery. The charges relate to the payment of 44 million U.S. dollars to a German banker, Gerhard Gribkowsky, from Bayern Landesbank (BayernLB) related to the sale of shares of Formula 1. Ecclestone party has six weeks to respond, since the indictment was launched last week.

Last week also, CVC issued a formal statement will monitor this case. This week, the source of the CVC told the Daily Telegraph that they support the 82-year-old British entrepreneur is.

Suppose after going through the legal process he is proven guilty, Ecclestone leadership must be willing to remove the seat. The next question is, who is the best candidate to fill the position place?

Sources Daily Telegraph stated that Ecclestone replacement will likely come from outsiders. Formula 1 currently has 313 staff and 10 senior managerial positions. None of them are worthy to replace Ecclestone.

“This business is too small to have a replacement candidate from within. Successor will almost certainly come from outside,” said the source.

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner is one of the so-called replacement candidate Ecclestone. However, most of the names come from the world outside of F1, including Sainsbury’s CEO Justin King and former M & S boss Sir Stuart Rose.

“I do not know if companies such as Sainsbury’s boss could do my job. Maybe he could,” Ecclestone told the Guardian newspaper last April, when the King entered the name as a candidate.

However, it seems that the shareholders are not in a hurry to find a replacement candidate.

“The reality is that Bernie is running a business and he is much better understand what was going on than us,” continued the source of the CVC. “We clearly have an important role for our shareholders, but we do not run this business, day after day, in detail.”

A July 6 date was confirmed on Tuesday by Red Bull, the energy drinks company founded by Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, which owns the eponymous Red Bull Formula One team and also the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg in the Styrian Alps.

Mateschitz is a close friend of F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

The Red Bull statement simply said: “Dietrich Mateschitz [Red Bull owner] and Bernie Ecclestone have reached agreement to the effect that Formula 1 will come back to Styria next year.”

The Red Bull Ring, formerly known as the A1-Ring, was mooted as a possible venue to fill the gap left vacant in this calendar by the withdrawal of the New Jersey GP.

Although in the end no deal was struck, Mateschitz has made no secret of his desire to see Formula One return to the circuit. The deal will be taken as a sign of his increasing power and influence.

A beautiful venue, its remote location and lack of infrastructure has counted against it, although Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko was adamant last winter that such concerns were “nonsense”, arguing that it “managed well enough in the 1970s and 1980s”. It hosted its last race in 2003 before Red Bull revamped it.

The July 6 date has already caused plenty of speculation about what the knock-on effect might be on the rest of the calendar.

With the governing body ruling out a clash with Le Mans 24 Hours (June 14-15) from now onwards, there are plenty of races and few spare weekends. Russia and New Jersey are both due to join the calendar, which could make 22 in total if all 19 from this season survive.

Added to the return of in-season testing, and winter testing starting earlier than usual due to the advent of the 1.6-litre turbo engines, 2014 looks like being the longest and busiest season in Formula One history.

LOUDON, N.H. — Denny Hamlin’s Sprint Cup season has been an unwanted procession of alarming impacts that have forced a decision potentially as jarring as a 200-mph collision with a concrete wall.

It’s time for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver to weigh whether it’s worth continuing to race in NASCAR’s premier series this year.

The insurmountable reality of mediocre results and increasingly cringe-worthy crashes are screaming that it isn’t.

Hamlin has reached a self-proclaimed threshold where season-ending back surgery would make more sense than finishing out the string of a campaign tainted by portentous wrecks. The growing piles of mangled sheet metal carry a message that seems unmistakable: Sorry kid, this isn’t your year.

Since returning from the wreck at Fontana, Calif., that fractured his back and sidelined him for four races, Hamlin’s miracle bid for making the Chase for the Sprint Cup has dimmed at an accelerated rate. After courageously returning with consecutive top-five finishes at Darlington Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, Hamlin started on the pole position June 2 at Dover International Speedway. A blown tire sent his No. 11 Toyota rocketing into the wall and triggered a significant downturn in his fortunes.

As physically taxing as the year has been, there are signs it has been as mentally draining, too.

According to David Smith’s MotorsportsAnalytics.com (a site that offers NASCAR analysis via sabermetrics-style advanced statistics), Hamlin’s terminal crash frequency (measuring the rate at which he is being eliminated from races by wrecks) is a series-high 0.31 this year. In the last seven years, the highest mark posted during a season is 0.25 (Ward Burton in 2007).

It’s worth pondering whether Hamlin, who was so focused and steady last season despite stumbles by his team, is pressing too hard to earn the victories needed for the Chase. A breather might help as much in clearing his mind as fully healing his body.

With each sickening thud, it’s more agonizing watching Hamlin walk gingerly from his battered Camry to a waiting ambulance, particularly when there seems little left at stake.

BOLOGNA – Ben Spies said that he would come back down to race with Pramac Ducati at Indianapolis MotoGP series on 16-18 August, Spies admitted that his condition was in good condition.

Spies has indeed been absent long enough after a severe shoulder injury since the accident at the Malaysian MotoGP series 2012. Spies who had been absent for seven series this season admitted injury had recovered.

“For the first time in months, I felt very happy because my shoulder in a very good condition. Decision is best right back in the moment. Doctors say that my recovery goes according to plan, so I wanted to get back at Indy with conditions 100 percent, “he said.

Spies who resigned from the Yamaha Factory Racing at the end of last year, not sure I can achieve good results in his debut later. The reason, he has gone through a lot of races this season.

“I missed so many races, and I do not ever be 100 percent. Now I am more confident about my recovery. However I am not sure I can directly go fast, since I had not been driving,” he said as reported by MCN.

About his future, Spies admits she still has a contract until 2014 with the Ducati satellite team. He also just want to focus and not think about the race will move to gossip today.

“There are so many rumors about what I would do in the future, but I just laugh to read it all on the internet. Obviously, I was ready to back away,” he concluded.

CALIFORNIA – Marc Marquez proved himself as a topnotch riders. The MotoGP rookie managed to become champion in the unfamiliar circuit, Laguna Seca and exalt himself as a champion of MotoGP competition part of 2013.

Once the lights start burning, the pole winner Stefan Bradl seater immediately shot. Valentino Rossi who inhabit fourth start also managed to poke into second place, followed by Marc Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo, Alvaro Bautista, Dani Pedrosa and Cal Crutchlow in the top seven positions.

The second lap, Bautista got past Lorenzo who has not fully recovered from a left collarbone injury. Two laps later or fourth lap, turn Marc Marquez who steal the show.

Rossi aggressive appearance make trouble closing the gap, so successfully exploited to overtake Honda rookie in a corner, even though that is a little out of track.

After passing Rossi, Marquez is now the focus of chase Bradl began to move away. Meanwhile, Rossi is now under pressure from Bautista in the race for third place.

In the third line, presented a battle of two injured riders, Lorenzo who got the fierce resistance of Pedrosa who has not recovered from a shoulder injury. Trailed after 11 laps, Pedrosa eventually successful-clicking overtake Lorenzo to claim fifth position.

Lap after lap run, Marquez managed to cut the distance with Bradl until he finally managed to take advantage of lax Bradl on lap 19 to take over control of the race.

In the second row, Rossi also started overwhelmed serve Bautista resistance that continues to stalk right behind him. Elsewhere, Pedrosa began to open the gap to Lorenzo in sight difficulties flagship M1 spur the fullest.

Entering the final 10 laps, leaving Bradl and Marquez began comfortably leading the race on the new circuit this time ‘knew.’ Marquez 1.5 seconds ahead of Bradl and 5 seconds of The Doctor in third place.

Marquez increasingly emphasized its dominance with widened to 2 seconds from Bradl at three laps remaining. Meanwhile, Rossi was still fought hard to resist the pressure to secure a third podium Bautista.

Last lap, Marquez is no longer untouchable for later claimed his first win in his debut at Laguna Seca. Bradl, despite failing to be a winner, because it can be a little sumringah earned his first podium in the premier class since competing last season.

The living legend, VR46 also finally managed to win the battle for the final podium charge. Bautista in the fourth position, followed by Pedrosa and Lorenzo in sixth position. Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider, Cal Crutchlow finished seventh, followed by Ducati duo, Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso and Hector Barbera in the top ten.

With this kemenenangan, Marquez had the right to close half of this season’s competition as the championship standings. Because the new 10 series will be held on August 18, 2013, in Indianapolis, USA.

Moto2 world champion this past season collecting 163 points, or 16 points ahead of teammate Pedrosa (147) in second place. Lorenzo was in third place with 137 points, followed by Rossi with 117 points.